New party to launch in Zim
2010-05-27 08:47
The People’s Progressive Party (PPP) president Pastor Timothy Chiguvare.
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Cape Town - A new political party, the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) is set to be launched in Zimbabwe with the aim of changing the country’s political landscape. In a wide ranging interview with News24, the party’s founder and president Pastor Timothy JM Chiguvare revealed how PPP is geared to face the challenge in its endeavour to oust President Robert Mugabe and his Zanu-PF party.
Pastor Chiguvare also indicated dissatisfaction at the current government of national unity (GNU) formed by President Mugabe and the two MDC formations of Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and Arthur Mutambara, saying it has failed to bring significant change to the suffering people of Zimbabwe.
News24: People’s Progressive Party (PPP) that’s the name of your party – what does it mean and who is funding it?
Pastor Chigivare: PPP is the voice for the oppressed and it was formed in 2008 after the elections that left many Zimbabweans feeling betrayed. The outcome of the election was not what many people had expected and there had to be a way forward.
It was at that time that PPP started mobilising people by forming a union of the struggling youth of Zimbabwe. But later, we discovered some people were older and we thought it best to form another union for struggling women which was then followed by the union of the unemployed. These unions, when we put them together make up to 90% of the Zimbabwe population where we draw our membership from. And the idea behind the formation of these unions was to prove that we could change our people’s lives.
So the party was launched here in South Africa, Johannesburg in that same year 2008 and we made it a point that it was going to be funded by its members. This was because we didn’t want to be funded by organisations which would in turn want tell us what to do.
But when we launched, the party was called Christians for Peace, Justice and Democracy. In 2009, we decided to change the name because we looked at the aims and objectives of the party and realised that it (party) was supposed to be free of religion so that even non Christians could feel accommodated.
We are planning a big launch in Zimbabwe before the end of July.
News24: How did you manage to mobilise the people?
Pastor Chiguvare: There was a lot of travelling involved. I went around South Africa and it was disheartening in some instances to find that young people of ages nine, 13 had fled Zimbabwe in an attempt to find a living. I was also in Botswana and Zimbabwe itself. The conditions in which I found these children forced me to put together a charitable organisation to help with food and clothing. This charity organisation operates under the auspices of Christians for Peace, Justice and Democracy which I mentioned earlier on and it’s an operational arm of the PPP.
One other important aspect about PPP is that it is the only African political party that gives funeral assistance to its members. The idea came about after we realised the troubles people, especially those in the Diaspora, went through when death came about.
News24: So how many members make up your party to date?
Pastor Chiguvare: We have 3,5 million members and we expect the number to increase because of the projects and policies that we have as a party.
News24: For the first time, most people in Zimbabwe are going to hear about Pastor Timothy Chiguvare as the leader of this yet to be launched party – can you briefly tell us about your political background?
Pastos Chiguvare: I used to be an active member of the MDC. I was a very strong supporter even before it was launched. I also used to support the country’s trade unions. I was one of those big business people in Zimbabwe with a labour force that was above 3000. I owned a hyper market in Chegutu, a high tech electronics company, a security company, furniture factory that supplied a lot of furniture shops in Zimbabwe and in South Africa. I used to exhibit various products at the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair. Sadly, all these businesses collapsed when I started to protest against the issue of land which I felt was threatening my business in tractors.
The terror started in 1997 and I must say it was very serious and I’m lucky to be alive. I was imprisoned in 1998 and that was the time when most farmers were arrested in Chinhoyi. I was only released in 2003 and seeing that my life was at stake, I left the country. My intention was to go abroad but for some reasons it failed. I lost a lot of money from my businesses then.
News24: So what happened when you got to South Africa – did you pursue your political path?
Pastor Chiguvare: I remained an active member of the MDC and informed them that I wanted to work for the party externally. MDC already had structures in SA and where possible I assisted with funds. I remember I assisted on the trial of the MDC leader in a very big way.
Things only went wrong in 2008 after the results of the elections didn’t come right. I made some suggestion to the MDC that it was not supposed to get involved in the talks of the unity government but the message fell on deaf ears. I would have preferred a situation where a referendum was conducted for people to air their views on what they thought about the formation of the GNU but the MDC leaders decided to bulldoze people into it. Seeing these developments, that’s when I started mobilising people for the formation of the PPP.
I realised at that time that Zimbabwe had a lot of leaders but I saw little leadership. Their leadership could not satisfy the Zimbabwe people. Mining, tourism, agriculture, and manufacturing are all dead and the economy has grinded to a standstill. Unemployment has shot up to 90% but the country has leaders.
Millions of our youths have left the country and it’s sad that a big number of people who have run away from these leaders have become victims of cheap labour in various countries. Doctors are working in restaurants. I’ve been to various farms where people are getting R20 a day, young women are sexually abused because they can’t get jobs and families are breaking up. So this is what PPP is set to rectify.
News24: The question is – what makes you sure that your party will be able to solve all these problems? What difference do you hope to bring to Zimbabwean politics especially considering the fact that so many parties have tried in vain to bring that change you are talking about? MDC, Mavambo, Zapu, Zanu Ndonga – all these are the parties that have failed to oust Zanu-PF.
Pastor Chiguvare: PPP has come to make a difference. Firstly, it will not allow elections to be held unless they are foreign supervised and managed, unless the AU and the UN peacekeepers are in the country three moths before the election date to ensure that the vote is free and fair.
News24: But the issue of peacekeepers has already been dismissed by SADC and other bodies as something that Zimbabwe doesn’t require as it is not a war-torn zone.
Pastor Chiguvare: We’ve had so many elections in Zimbabwe and what we have to understand is that the country has never had a coalition government. If we happen to have another election and people fail to get the democracy they want, then there is a possibility of an uprising or a civil war. PPP doesn’t want to see the Zimbabwe situation getting worse than what we see in the Democratic Republic of Congo. That is why it’s important to have peacekeepers in place when the election time comes.
News24: So how geared are you to face the challenges that come with Zimbabwean politics which has vexed the many parties that I mentioned earlier on especially the MDC - which even after forming a unity government with Zanu-PF is still struggling for recognition within that government?
Pastor Chiguvare: We will face the challenges squarely and honestly. You see MDC has no typical politicians – it has academics and that’s where the problem is. Academics want good salaries, have respect for other people and are afraid to take risks. Zanu-PF ‘s leaders risk their names and that’s why they can even be able to build up cases against individuals knowing very well that there is no case. Politics can do dirty things and that’s what MDC should have known before proceeding to elections and before entering into the GNU. They were supposed to deal with Zanu-PF with extreme caution because Zanu-PF has leaders who have been in politics for many years. It has experts and it plans ahead.
News24: Are you therefore saying PPP is ready to challenge the ‘experts’ in Zanu-PF?
Pastor Chiguvare: PPP has senior party members who are running away from other political parties including MDC and Zanu-PF. Some of them are within the unity government and have seen these people failing and are not happy with what they are seeing. Unfortunately I cannot mention them yet as they are not ready to come out in the open.
News24: But don’t you think pastor it could have been better if you had joined hands with the GNU and try to work towards its success rather than forming a new party?
Pastor Chiguvare: That won’t work. It would be a very tricky step to take. People of Zimbabwe would lose respect for us because they have already lost confidence in the unity government due to the leaders’ childish fight over certain ministries and appointments of governors, reserve bank governor and attorney general.
Democracy is under arrest – no freedom of the media, no freedom of speech and no right to protests.
The international business community cannot support the unity government because of its domestic and foreign policy.
Zanu-PF has not reformed. It’s still the Zanu-PF with the grudge for white people and this is killing the country.
The two parties are still worlds apart with Zanu-PF saying MDC is a party of the British and Americans and was formed to protect the whites’ land from being seized. MDC also has its own accusations and all this is at the expense of Zimbabwe people and we cannot allow this to continue happening.
So as far as PPP is concerned the GNU is a non-starter. It’s a mockery to the people of Zimbabwe because it’s not the wish of the people. They started negotiating in 2008, now we are in 2010 and nothing tangible has come out of it. Ninety percent of our people are still without employment and millions of our youths are out of the country. Industries such as mining, agriculture, manufacturing and exports are still dead. Education, health, transport systems are all in shambles.
So Zimbabwe needs to be to be rebuilt from scratch and that requires a new government and that government must be of a new political party not MDC or Zanu-PF.
We want to turn Zimbabwe around and ensure that it becomes Africa’s breadbasket again as soon as we get into power. We want to ensure that Zimbabwe becomes the first world country by 2020.
News24: But what exactly would you say is the problem in Zimbabwe?
Pastor Chiguvare: Zanu-PF is the problem. It’s high time that Zanu-PF admitted its failures and allowed justice and democracy to rule by accepting amnesty which will see Mugabe stepping down and doesn’t contest in any election.
News24: And looking at the support that the president has within his party do you think that can ever be possible.
Pastor Chiguvare: Yes, it can be possible. The problem right now is South Africa which is the mediator in Zimbabwe. You see in South Africa, when they are not happy with their president, they recall him like they did with Thabo Mbeki. So if South Africa can recall a president why can’t Zimbabwe do the same? Secondly, SA knows that Zimbabwe is not a rainbow nation. If they can allow SA to be a rainbow nation why can’t they say no to the leaders of Zimbabwe when they see them violating elections, violating the rights of citizens. SA is aware that the land reform in Zimbabwe was not done in an orderly manner but it’s quiet on that.
Another problem is SADC (Southern African Development Community) which must be honest to the Zimbabwe people on all issues they see are not straight forward and are hampering progress in the country. SADC must come clean on Zimbabwe issues.
News24: And pastor, one of the burning issues in Zimbabwe right now is the issue of land? What are your policies on it? How do you intend to tackle the issue?
Chiguvare: Well, we have strategies that we’ve put in place so that every Zimbabwean benefits. We have policies that will work for all parties regardless of colour, race and creed. Like I indicated earlier, PPP wants to turn Zimbabwe into a rainbow nation and restore the confidence of the international community.
The fact is without reconciliation, Zimbabwe can never move forward. Mugabe can never dispute this because when he got into power in 1980, he extended a hand of reconciliation. Nelson Mandela is a good example when it comes to matters of reconciliation – that’s why South Africa is moving forward.
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- News24